Seerat Nabvi (sw)

A graphical and illustrative presentation (CHARTS) of
the Life of Muhammad (pbuh). Click on any of the images to begin with or if you have Adobe Acrobat PDF installed on your computer or phone, you can click here to see it in PDF format.

Urdu Language: Here are 4 versions of the Sirat Nabawi (saw) or Life of
Mohammad (pbuh) in Urdu as narrated by historians and referenced by all
scholars and writers for accurate historical background.;

Brief Story of Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s Life

Birth and Prophethood:

Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) was born of a noble family of Banu Hashim
ancestry. However, he was not fortunate enough to have been born wealthy
as he was born an orphan. His father, Abdullah bin Abdul Muttalib, died
of sickness at the age of 25 on a trading journey to Syria, leaving his
wife Amenah only a few months pregnant.

Muhammad’s Birth:

His birth was on the twelfth (12) of Rabiul Awwal 53 B.H. (570 A.D of
the Christian era) was ordinary and has no significance in Islam and the
celebrations on this occasion have nothing to do with shari'ah and some
people consider it Bid’ah.

Abdul Mutalib, his grandfather who was the chief of Makkah at that time,
showed pride in him as Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) compensated him for the loss
of his son who died in the prime of his youth. His mother showed
affection for her son as she awaited the best nurses to come and take
care of him: The tradition at that time was that nurses would come from
the desert seeking to be the custodians of the children of nobility in
return for good pay and gifts. Giving that Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) was not
wealthy all nurses turned away from him, Halimah of the Banu Saad tribe
was one of them, but when she could not find any other child she was
ashamed to return home empty handed, so she went back and took Muhammad
(s.a.w.s.), and since then Allah showered his mercy on her; for instance
animals started giving plenty of milk after they had been dried.
Therefore, her and her husband felt they were blessed to have taken
Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and became very attached to him.

Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) spent five years with Banu Saad during which nothing
out of the ordinary happened except one told incident which scared
Halimah and became known as “the splitting of his chest.” When he was
playing with the other boys Jibril held him, threw him down, split his
chest, took out his heart and took out a clump from it and said: “this
is Satan's portion of you.” Then he washed him in a basin made of gold
with the water of zamzam, then sealed his chest and returned him where
he was. The boys ran to Halimah and said Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) has been
killed. They came back and found him alive but pale. (Reported by Anas
in the Hadith compilations of Muslim and Ahmed)

Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) returned to Makkah at the age of five to his mother
and grandfather who took good care of him, but the days refused to allow
him tranquility among those tender hearts, as his mother died during a
visit to Madinah to visit her husbands grave. She took Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)
and his maid Umm Aiman with her. On the way back, she fell very sick and
died in Abwaa leaving Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) with Umm Aiman.

His grandfather always took good care of him and never left him alone,
he took him to all public gatherings. However, at the age of eight,
Abdul Muttalib died leaving him into his uncle Abu Talib’s care. Since
Abu Talib had many children and was not wealthy, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)
insisted on sharing the burdens of life with him. He went with his uncle
on a trading journey to Syria at the age of thirteen. He met a monk
called Bahira during the journey, who looked at his face and the sign on
his back (the sign of Prophethood) and asked Abu Talib: “What is this
boy to you ?”My son he said.” “His father should not be alive.” Said
Buhira. Abu Talib then said, “Yes, in fact he is my brother’s son “and
told him the rest of the story. The monk said “Now you are telling me
the truth. Take him back and be careful of the Jews over him.”

Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) then returned to Makkah and resumed his life,
working as a shepherd in his early life. He did not acquire knowledge or
education from a monk or a philosopher or sorcerer, as was the norm
then. Instead he read through the pages of life and took what he found
good. He combined the good qualities of discipline with spiritual
purity, rightness and contentment.

In this manner, he entered his third phase of life and got acquainted
with his first wife Khadija (r.a.) who was a merchant woman of nobility
and wealth. She had heard of his truthfulness and trustworthiness, so
she offered him to take her trade to Syria (before marrying him). He was
25 years old and she was 40 years old when they got married. Their
marriage lasted until she died at the age of 65.

The Message of Islam:

Every year, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) used to leave Makkah to spend Ramadan in
the cave of Hiraa where he used to meditate and worship for
self-purification away from the falsehood of Jahilia. In this cave, He
met with the heavenly host and listened to the voice of the angel
telling him to read. He knew that he had become a Prophet of Allah (s.a.w.s.)
and that it was Jabril, the ambassador of revelation who came to him;
then the mission’s struggle began.

Quraysh spared no efforts to fight Islam and persecuted those who
embraced it. The Prophet (s.a.w.s.) and his companions abused,
ridiculed, humiliated, accused of indulging in magic, and the weak and
oppressed believers were tortured until they disbelieved, died or
swooned (as they had no clan to defend them).

In spite of all that Islam grew stronger, so Quraysh decided to change
strategy and agreed not to buy, sell or intermarry with Muslims or those
who approved of their religion, protected them or sympathized with them.
They wrote this agreement which was called “The General Boycott” on a
piece of parchment and hung it inside the Kaabah as a secret pact.
Therefore, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and his followers were forced into
confinement in the Vale of Banu Hashim where they were cut off of any
assistance. This boycott lasted three long years during which only the
bond of faith kept the hearts together and gave them strength. It ended
after Hisham Ibn Amr (who felt very upset about the terrible plight of
Muslims) gathered some clans around him and agreed to break the pact.
They went to Makkah to tear the parchment and to their surprise they
found that the worms had already eaten it up except the words: “In Your
name O God.”

After ten years of suffering for the mission of Islam, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)
suffered the loss of his wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib, in other
words, he had lost his public life, as his uncle defended him and
protected him from any calamity, and his private life, as Khadijah
loved, supported and shared with him the miseries and pains of the
Da’wah.

Muhammad ’s Attractive Leadership:

Muhammad led a very ordinary life yet the life style he practiced
offered an example for others to follow. So this is an invitation to
search through the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) lifestyle and adopt what he did in
his daily activities.

To start with read what Al Hasan (son of Ali) said about the Prophet of
Allah (s.a.w.s.) “Doors are not locked under him, nor do door keepers
stand for him, and trays of food are not served to him in the morning or
the evening. He sits on the ground and eats his food from the ground. He
wears coarse (rough) clothes and rides on a donkey with others sitting
behind him, and he licks his fingers after taking food.”

His regular deeds:

His habits were really simple in all aspects of his life as we see. He
never started any activity without saying “In the name of Allah.”

Sleeping Habits:

Aisha (r.a.) said that the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) used to sleep during the
earlier part of the night and stood praying during the later part. She
also said that when he got up at night he started his prayer with two
rakaat.

When Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.s.) went to bed he “Used to lie down on
his right side and said: O Allah I surrender myself to you, and seek
protection in you, longing for you and fearing you; there is no
protection and no escape from you except with you, I believe in your
book which you sent down and your Prophet (s.a.w.s.) whom you sent down
and your Prophet (s.a.w.s.) whom you sent.” (Bukhari)

Then he used to read Surah Al Ikhlas and Al Muawathatein (Surah Al -Falaq
and An-Naas) three times. (Dawud and Tirmithi)

Praying:

Ibn Omar (r.a.) said that at night, the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) used to pray
rakaat in two then finished with one, and he used to supplicate saying:

“O Allah, forgive me my sins and my ignorance, my excesses in my matter
and what you know better than myself. O Allah forgive me the wrongs (I
did) lightly and seriously, and my accidental and intentional
transgressions and all that is with me.” (Bukhari)

For Fajr prayer, he used to pray two short rakaat between the call and
the Iqama and also read Qur’an. According to him “Qur’an at dawn is
always witnessed by the angels of the nights and the angels of the
days.” (Tirmithi)

Bathing, Ablution and the Call of Nature:

Aisha (r.a.) said that the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) used his right hand for
ablution and taking food, and the left hand for the toilet and the like.

When bathing from janaba, Aisha said, “he would begin by washing his
hands, then he made ablution as for prayer, then he puts his fingers in
water and runs them through the roots of his hair and then poured
handfuls of water with his hands over his head and let the water flow
all over his body .” (Bukhari)

The Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: “It is an obligation on every Muslim to
bathe at least once every seven days and wash both his head and body.” (Bukhari
and Muslim)

As far as ablution is concerned, Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.s.) said:

“He who makes ablution and makes it the best way, his sins leave his
body, even from beneath his nails.” (Muslim). In the hadith compiled by
Imam Bukhari it was narrated that when the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) got up
from sleep for Tahajjud prayer, he cleansed his mouth with a tooth-stick
(miswak).

As far as answering the call of nature is concerned the Prophet of Allah
(s.a.w.s.) said “He who relieves himself should be concealed from the
view of others .” (Abu Dawud) and “Two people should not go out together
to relieve themselves, uncovering their private parts and talking to
each other, for Allah abhors this.” (Ahmad and Abu Dawud) He also told
Omar, “Do not pass water while standing.”

When he entered the toilet he used to say “O Allah I seek refuge in You
from all kinds of evils.” (Bukhari) And when he came out of the toilet
he used to say “Grant Your forgiveness.” (Tirmithi)

Clothing:

Umm Salama (r.a.) said “The piece of clothing best liked by Allah’s
Messenger (s.a.w.s.) was the shirt.” (Tirmithi) When he put on a shirt,
he used to begin with the right side and says “Praise be to Allah who
clothed me with this.” And he forbade us to exaggerate in our clothing
when he said: “Eat, drink and wear good clothes as long as these things
do not involve excess, and arrogance.” (Ahmed) In another hadith it was
narrated that Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.s.) cursed the man who puts on
woman’s clothes and the woman who puts on men’s clothes.” (Abu Dawud)

Eating and Drinking:

Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.s.) used to invoke the name of Allah before
eating and also before washing his hands before and after eating. He
used to say, “The blessing of food is received by washing the hands
before and after taking it.” (Tirmithi and Abu Dawud)

Muslim also reported that “Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.s.) used to eat with
three fingers and he licked his hand before he wiped it.” The Messenger
(s.a.w.s.) told Abu Salma (r.a.) “Invoke the name of Allah, and eat with
your right hand and eat what is near.” (Muslim) And he also said, “If
dinner is served, and Iqama for prayer is (also), then take the dinner
first.” (Bukhari)

Manners of Speech:

Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) used to start his speech with salam. He
says: “Saying salam comes before talking.” (Tirmithi) And he teaches us
not to talk unnecessarily saying: “Do not talk without remembering
Allah, for talking without remembering Allah hardens the heart.” (Tirmithi)

He never used obscene talk nor did he listen to it, nor did he listen to
anything about anyone. Aisha (r.a.) said that “His speech was clear and
distinct such that all those who listened to him understood him.” (Abu
Dawud)

General Conduct in Living with People:

Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.s.) used to say salam when he arrives where
people are seated and when he wishes to leave, he also says salam as
“the former is as appropriate as the latter.” (Abu Dawud)

He did not like people exalting him “He came out once leaning on a stick
and a group of people stood up, he said: don’t stand up as foreigners
stand up exalting each other therewith.” (Abu Dawud)

When visiting people, he used to ask permission to enter saying “Peace
be upon you, may I enter.” (Abu Dawud) and when his guests are leaving
he used to go with them to the door of the house.

Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.s.) used “to receive gifts and to give gifts
back.” (Bukhari) and he said “Make gifts to one another for a gift
removes rancour from the chest.” (Tirmithi)

At home, he used to serve his family. Aisha was asked about what the
Prophet (s.a.w.s.) used to do in his house, she said “He used to work
for his family, that is to serve his family, and when prayer time came,
he goes out for prayer.” (Bukhari)

Death of the Prophet (s.a.w.s.)

The pains of sickness attacked the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) since the ending
of Safar of the eleventh year. Once he fainted and his family put
medicine in his mouth. When he awoke, he showed his dislike of that.
During his illness he would supplicate “O Allah help me in the pangs of
death.” (Bukhari: narrated by Aisha)

He was warning Muslims -- even when he was in the throes of death --
that they should stay committed to monotheism by saying “Allah’s curse
be upon the Jews and Christians, they took their Prophet (s.a.w)’s
graves as mosques.” (He was warning them against the action.) (Al-Shaikhan)

The last thing the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) did before his death (according to
Aisha):

“He lay down in my lap, brushed his teeth harder than he had ever done
before ”, then his eyes were fixed and he was saying “Nay, the Companion
on high from paradise.” I said to myself “You were given the choice and
you have chosen, by Him who sent you with the Truth.” Then, he passed
away.” (Bukhari)

This was a brief study of the Prophet (s.a.w.s.)’s way of life. It must
be stressed that we will never really understand the Sirah unless we
study the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Praise and Glory be to Allah, we seek Allah’s forgiveness and we turn to
him in repentance.

Timeline of Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) Life

570 Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s Birth
and Infancy

Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) was born in the year 570 in the town of Mecca, a
mountain town in the high desert plateau of western Arabia. His name
derives from the Arabic verb hamada, meaning "to praise, to glorify." He
was the first and only son of Abd Allah bin Al-Muttalib and Amina bint
Wahb. Abd Allah died before Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s birth and Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)
was raised by his mother Amina, who in keeping with Meccan tradition
entrusted her son at an early age to a wet nurse named Halima from the
nomadic tribe of the Sa'd ibn Bakr. He grew up in the hill country,
learning their pure Arabic.

575 Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) Becomes an Orphan

When Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) was five or six his mother took him to Yathrib,
an oasis town a few hundred miles north of Mecca, to stay with relatives
and visit his father's grave there. On the return journey, Amina took
ill and died. She was buried in the village of Abwa on the Mecca-Medina
Road. Halima, his nurse, returned to Mecca with the orphaned boy and
placed him in the protection of his paternal grandfather, Abdul Al-Muttalib.
In this man's care, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) learned the rudiments of
statecraft. Mecca was Arabia's most important pilgrimage center and
Abdul Al-Muttalib its most respected leader. He controlled important
pilgrimage concessions and frequently presided over Mecca's Council of
Elders.

578 Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) in Mecca in Care of an
Uncle

Upon his grandfather's death in 578, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), aged about
eight, passed into the care of a paternal uncle, Abu Talib. Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)
grew up in the older man's home and remained under Abu Talib's
protection for many years. Chroniclers have underscored Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s
disrupted childhood. So does the Qur'an: "Did God not find you an orphan
and give you shelter and care? And He found you wandering, and gave you
guidance. And he found you in need, and made you independent" (93:6-8).

580-594 Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s Teens

When young boy, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) worked as a shepherd to help pay his
keep (his uncle was of modest means). In his teens he sometimes traveled
with Abu Talib, who was a merchant, accompanying caravans to trade
centers. On at least one occasion, he is said to have traveled as far
north as Syria. Older merchants recognized his character and nicknamed
him El–Amin, the one you can trust.

In his early twenties, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) entered the service of a
wealthy Meccan merchant, a widow named Khadija bint Khawalayd. The two
were distant cousins. Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) carried her goods to the north
and returned with a profit.

595-609 Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s Marriage and Family
Life

Impressed by Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s honesty and character, Khadija
eventually proposed marriage. They were wed in about 595. He was
twenty-five. She was nearly forty.

Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) continued to manage Khadija's business affairs, and
their next years were pleasant and prosperous. Six children were born to
them, two sons who both died in infancy, and four daughters. Mecca
prospered too, becoming a well–off trading center in the hands of an
elite group of clan leaders who were mostly successful traders.

610 Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) Receives First Revelation

Mecca's new materialism and its traditional idolatry disturbed Muhammad
(s.a.w.s.). He began making long retreats to a mountain cave outside
town. There, he fasted and meditated. On one occasion, after a number of
indistinct visionary experiences, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) was visited by an
overpowering presence and instructed to recite words of such beauty and
force that he and others gradually attributed them to God. This
experience shook Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) to the core. It was several years
before he dared to talk about it outside his family.

613 Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) Takes his Message Public

After several similar experiences, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) finally began to
reveal the messages he was receiving to his tribe. These were gathered
verse by verse and later would become the Qur'an, Islam's sacred
scripture. In the next decade, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and his followers
were first belittled and ridiculed, then persecuted and physically
attacked for departing from traditional Mecca's tribal ways. Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s
message was resolutely monotheistic. For several years, the the Quraysh,
Mecca's dominant tribe, levied a ban on trade with Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s
people, subjecting them to near famine conditions. Toward the end of the
decade, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s wife and uncle both died. Finally, the
leaders of Mecca attempted to assassinate Muhammad (s.a.w.s.).

622 Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and the Muslims Emigrate
to Medina

In 622, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and his few hundred followers left Mecca and
traveled to Yathrib, the oasis town where his father was buried. The
leaders there were suffering through a vicious civil war, and they had
invited this man well known for his wisdom to act as their mediator.
Yathrib soon became known as Medina, the City of the Prophet. Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)
remained here for the next six years, building the first Muslim
community and gradually gathering more and more people to his side.

625-628 The Military Period

The Meccans did not take Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s new success lightly.
Early skirmishes led to three major battles in the next three years. Of
these the Muslims won the first (the Battle of Badr, March, 624), lost
the second (the Battle of Uhud, March, 625), and outlasted the third,
(The Battle of the Trench and the Siege of Medina, April, 627). In
March, 628, a treaty was signed between the two sides, which recognized
the Muslims as a new force in Arabia and gave them freedom to move
unmolested throughout Arabia. Meccan allies breached the treaty a year
later.

630 The Conquest of Mecca

By now, the balance of power had shifted radically away from
once-powerful Mecca, toward Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and the Muslims. In
January, 630, they marched on Mecca and were joined by tribe after tribe
along the way. They entered Mecca without bloodshed and the Meccans,
seeing the tide had turned, joined them.

630-632 Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s Final Years

Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) returned to live in Medina. In the next three years,
he consolidated most of the Arabian Peninsula under Islam. In March,
632, he returned to Mecca one last time to perform a pilgrimage, and
tens of thousands of Muslims joined him.

After the pilgrimage, he returned to Medina. Three months later on June
8, 632 he died there, after a brief illness. He is buried in the mosque
in Medina. Within a hundred years Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)'s teaching and way
of life had spread from the remote corners of Arabia as far east as
Indo-China and as far west as Morocco, France and Spain.